NPR's Book of the Day: Angela Tomaski’s Debut Novel, The Infamous Gilberts

Date: February 2, 2026
Host: Andrew Limbong (intro), Scott Simon (interview)
Guest: Angela Tomaski
Episode Theme: Exploring family, memory, and decay through the lens of an English manor’s decline in Angela Tomaski’s debut novel, The Infamous Gilberts.

Episode Overview

This episode features Angela Tomaski discussing her debut novel, The Infamous Gilberts, with NPR’s Scott Simon. The conversation delves into the dynamics of a crumbling English family, the symbolism of a decaying mansion, and Tomaski’s personal connection to her story—particularly around the theme of growing up without a father. Listeners are offered insights into the genesis of the novel, the lives of its characters, and the ways everyday objects anchor memories and meaning.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Novelist and Her Novel: Setting the Scene

• Thornwalk House: Once-mighty English mansion at the center of the Winford Gilbert family's decline. Now being turned into a hotel, the family’s personal artifacts become relics of the past.

  • (01:27) D: “Thornwalk House is a mighty English mansion of the Winford Gilbert family that has been sold and will be turned into a hotel... What will become of them and the stories they tell about the people who once lived there?”

• Maximus, the Narrator: The reader’s guide through the house and its stories, intimately connected to the family and balancing the narrative’s darkness with compassion.

  • (02:10) C: “Maximus takes the reader on a tour of this house and… he knows all their secrets, all their stories. So I think there’s quite a bit of darkness in the story. And because of the, the love he has for them, I think it sort of balances that darkness.”

Family Dynamics: Absence and Impact

• Fatherless Childhood: The five Gilbert children are left “to their own devices,” with no maternal compensation for their father’s absence.

  • (02:37) C: “Well, there’s no father... the mother is unable to sort of compensate for that absence. So, yes, they are left without really the tools that they need to go forward.”

• Hugo’s Burden: The eldest son, Hugo, returns from war traumatized and is forced into a patriarchal role he’s ill-equipped for, mirroring the estate's decay.

  • *(02:57) C: “He wants to save people and when he’s unable to do, the darkness sort of comes out.”
  • (03:31) C: “The decay of Thornwalk... the disintegration… of traditional family structures, traditional power structures. So this family is falling apart and Hugo is unable to hold it together. So, yes, he disintegrates, you know, with it.”

The Power of Objects: Genesis of the Novel

• Inspiration: A visit to Tintsfield, a real neo-Gothic mansion, left Tomaski mesmerized by a “vivid link to the past”—a baron’s bed, a bar of soap, slippers—that were later removed, erasing their stories.
  • (04:00) C: “I saw the bed in which the sort of reclusive last baron was said to have died... the smell of a little tablet of coal tar, soap and a pair of slippers under the bed... that vivid link to the past obviously was lost. So that was what put in mind this idea of the importance of these objects.”

Vulnerability and the Father’s Role

• Annabelle’s Story: A fire on the library rug signals Annabelle’s vulnerability due to a health condition, underscoring the subtle dangers in fatherless homes.
  • (05:03) C: “Annabelle is having a sort of blackout and she can’t see the fire... with the absence of the father for her, you know, she is then damaged in a way that wouldn’t have happened had someone been there to sort of protect her.”

Personal Resonance

• Author's Lived Experience: Tomaski relates the novel to her own loss, having grown up without a father since age nine.

  • (05:54) C: “This was the story that’s been in me for a long time… all the issues that we see in the Gilberts, you know, I’ve experienced myself to some extent, you know, so. Yes, I know.”

• Writing as Catharsis:

  • (06:22) C: “Cathartic, yes, absolutely. And it’s strange, but it feels better not just to write it, but to be heard. For people, to be reading it, to be able to share it with people, is like a weight has been lifted somehow.”

Life Experience & Influences

• Empathy Born from Work: Tomaski reflects on her time as waitress, cleaner, English teacher, and activity coordinator in a care home, drawing from these roles a deep sense of the beauty and vulnerability of ordinary people.
  • (06:51) C: “Just people, I suppose. Ordinary people. The care home, particularly, was wonderful. Seeing people at their most vulnerable, really, and open and finding such beauty and at such precious moments.”
  • (07:27) C: “Yes, and beautiful human lives... I was very open to forming sort of friendships with these people... And I did grieve when they died, you know.”

Memorable Quote and Closing Reflection

• Haunting Metaphor:
  • (08:22) D: “I’m really struck by a line toward the end of your novel where you say, narrator says we are all the ruins of castles.”
  • (08:22) C: “Yeah. It’s my, it’s just very strange because it’s my favorite line... These are ordinary people with ordinary issues… when a person dies, it’s a castle that crumbles, you know, there are no unimportant people. We’re all the ruins of castles once mighty.”

Notable Quotes

• Angela Tomaski (on objects and memory, 04:00):

  “Just that the smell of the soap and something that he had held and the things that are important to us and that do hold meaning. So I wanted to tell a story in the form of a tour, using objects like that that seem inconsequential but actually hold a lot of meaning.”

• Angela Tomaski (on loss and resilience, 05:54):

  “This was the story that’s been in me for a long time… all the issues that we see in the Gilberts, you know, I’ve experienced myself to some extent, you know, so. Yes, I know.”

• Angela Tomaski (on everyone’s importance, 08:22):

  “There are no unimportant people. We’re all the ruins of castles once mighty. And when we have to fall, you...”

Important Timestamps

• 00:02-00:49: Intro and setup of episode theme.
• 01:27: Description of Thornwalk House and introduction of Angela Tomaski.
• 02:10-03:55: Family structure, Maximus' role, Hugo's sacrifice, parallels between home and character decay.
• 04:00: Inspiration behind the novel and the significance of objects.
• 05:03-05:51: Annabelle’s vulnerability and the consequences of fatherly absence.
• 05:54-06:35: Tomaski reflects on writing from personal experience and healing through storytelling.
• 06:46-07:27: Tomaski discusses what working in care homes taught her as a writer.
• 08:22: Discussion of the line “we are all the ruins of castles” and its significance.

Summary

Angela Tomaski’s conversation with Scott Simon offers listeners a haunting yet moving look at The Infamous Gilberts. Set amid the fading grandeur of an English manor and broken family lines, Tomaski masterfully weaves together themes of memory, vulnerability, the significance of everyday objects, and the silent burdens children bear in the absence of parental support. Drawing deeply from her own life and her work with ordinary people in vulnerable contexts, Tomaski uses her debut novel to elevate the stories of the “ruins of castles”—the people that history might otherwise leave behind.